Understanding your emissions standard

Overview

Australia uses multiple frameworks for emissions and energy reporting. Two common references are the National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) factors and the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) scheme. This page explains what each one is and why the distinction matters.

National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA)

The National Greenhouse Accounts Factors are published by the Australian Government to help estimate greenhouse gas emissions from energy use and related activities.

NGA factors are commonly used to:

  • estimate emissions using published conversion factors
  • apply consistent methods across internal emissions calculations
  • support broader analysis and non-NGER reporting contexts

NGA factors are updated periodically (typically annually), so the factor year should be considered when comparing outputs over time.

National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER)

The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) scheme is Australia's national framework for reporting company information on:

  • greenhouse gas emissions
  • energy production
  • energy consumption

The scheme is established under Commonwealth legislation and administered by the Clean Energy Regulator. Corporations that meet thresholds must register and report annually.

Key difference in plain terms

  • NGA is primarily a published factor/method resource used for emissions estimation.
  • NGER is a legislated reporting framework with defined obligations, thresholds, and measurement requirements.

Why this distinction matters

The selected standard affects:

  • the method basis used for calculations
  • whether outputs are aimed at internal analysis or regulated reporting
  • how results should be interpreted for governance and compliance workflows

References

Important

This page is general information only and is not legal advice. For compliance decisions, confirm requirements against current official publications and seek qualified advice where needed.

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